Ammunition Imports Soar Under Obama in 2016

The world’s greatest gun and ammunition salesman has had two record-breaking terms in office, and it doesn’t appear that he’s content to rest on his laurels any time soon. Ammunition imports shot up nearly 50% in the past twelve months. Well done, Mr. President.

Ammunition imports rose 48.9% in the 12 months ended May 2016, according to a report from Panjiva, a research company that tracks global trade by compiling data from bills of lading.

Panjiva research analyst Chris Rogers, who is based in London, said the top countries of origin were Italy, Peru, Serbia, South Korea and Spain, in that order.

“What’s surprising is how diverse the production base actually is,” he said. “It’s actually a global business.”

Panjiva said the top exporter was an Italian ammunition company called Fiocchi Munizioni, based near Milan.

The second biggest exporter to the U.S. was a Peruvian ammunition manufacturer called Industrial Surquillo, based in Lima. The third, Prvi Partizan, is Serbian.

I suspect that many shooters are familiar with Italy’s Fiocchi, Serbia’s Prvi Partizan, and South Korea’s PMC, but I suspect that most of you were just as stumped by Peru’s Industrial Surquillo as I was. It turns out that they specialize in lead products, including scuba weights, lead for batteries, and shot for shotgun shells. Trap and skeet shooting are the fastest growing high school sports in the country, so that isn’t actually that surprising.